Hi, I was wondering if you would have any suggestions on a bit for Jo. I have been using a sweet-iron snaffle bit for dressage and I have a curb bit that I use for my English pleasure classes that he works very well in. I was wondering if you knew of any snaffle bits that you think he would work well in because I have tried just a basic O-ring snaffle and he will not respond to it a lot of times. I am only allowed to have a snaffle bit but not a French link snaffle or anything like that so I was wondering if you had any recommendations.
Great question! This is my answer:
As you might suspect, the solution to a horse that is ignoring the bit is not necessarily a stronger bit, but the rider developing the understanding and skill to ride the horse correctly through his body. It is important to create a good conversation with your horse through your aids, one that invites him to pay better attention to you.
Frequent transitions, if they are correctly done, will help your horse focus more on your aids and prevent him becoming bored and tuning you out. When you find that your horse is dull to your hand, it is an indication that you need to put more attention on your ride. Teach him to be more responsive to all your aids. Your weight aids are the most important to creating responsiveness in your hand. Try riding some obstacle patterns set up with cavelleti, ground poles, barrels, etc. Use your body first before going to your hand. Pretend you are an Indian who is hunting buffalo from horseback. You need both hands to shoot, and you must be able to steer your horse with your knees and weight. Be sure to sit in balance, left to right, and sit tall—no leaning forward or backward. Also, school some transitions with him. I like to use walk-trot transitions in my warm up to get my horse thinking about my aids. After you walk on a long rein for a few minutes, take him for a brisk trot. Then begin asking for 10 steps of walk in between short sets of trot. Focus on your half-halt aids in the down transition and make sure your aids are clear in the up transition. Look for each transition to improve as you both warm up.
Your horse must be straight to the line he is traveling on in order to be light in your hand. Since few horses are naturally straight and balanced, you must learn to straighten your horse. This means that first you need to feel when and how he is crooked. If he always drops his shoulders to the right and his haunches to the left, then you must work to move his shoulders back to the left in front of his haunches, especially when turning left. Try riding on some straight lines and see if you can feel which parts of your horse are not in alignment. Use your pulsing aids (don’t try to hold him in place) (knees, calves, rein) to encourage him to stay in better alignment.
As for bits, you might try something like this Baucher cheek snaffle, which is legal for dressage and eventing :
http://www.toklat.com/Products/BP/89-41025.
Many horses like the center roller in the Myler bits and Myler has a very helpful website that tells you which bits are legal for dressage and eventing. Just click on the “i” symbol next to the bit name. But always be sure to double check with your rule book before you buy a bit to make sure it is legal in your discipline.
http://www.toklat.com/Products/Brand/Myler/125/Dressage_Legal_Bits.
This is not to say that you have to buy a Myler bit to solve your issues. But it is a good resource to figure out what bits are legal to use.
Have fun riding and I hope to see you soon!
